Former city councilman, HdG lighthouse benefactor Mason dies at 88

RECORD STAFF REPORT

Former longtime Havre de Grace resident Ralph B. Mason died suddenly at his home in Jacksonville, Fla., on March 24, his family said. He was 88.

Mr. Mason served on the Havre de Grace City Council in the early 1980s and almost upset incumbent Mayor Charles Montgomery in the 1983 city election; however, he may best be remembered as the modern day defender of the city's signature Concord Point Lighthouse.

The Mason family owned the property on Concord Point and the lighthouse foundation was on the verge of collapse from shore erosion in the 1950s, when Mr. Mason and his brother, Roger, built a bulkhead to protect the structure from being undermined.

Mr. Mason worked at Aberdeen Proving Ground as an electronics technician in the early days of computers and was involved in a number of business ventures, including a restaurant in the city in the 1950s and 1960s called Lighthouse Galley.

Survivors include his three children, Marlise Mason, Ralph Mason Jr. and Rikki Bennington.